Metinvest Group is renewing the production facilities of MMK im. Ilyich. The company is in the active phase of the construction of a modern air separation unit in Ukraine. The total investment in the project will amount to USD 83.5 million.
As of today, the availability of equipment for the liquid oxygen storage and gasification station is 95%. Currently, preparations are underway for commissioning at the facility. For the air separation plant complex, the installation of the frame of the turbine hall building was completed, the foundations for the equipment and the laying of pipelines were laid, work began on the installation of the main technological equipment manufactured by Air Liquide. According to the schedule, the project is planned to be fully completed next year.
“A large number of personnel of the oxygen shop, Metinvest Engineering, contractors are involved in the construction of a modern oxygen complex,” said the chief power engineer of MMK. Ilyich Metinvest Group Alexander Vlasov. - The infrastructure of the complex includes equipment for an air separation unit with a capacity of 25 thousand cubic meters of gaseous oxygen and 35 thousand cubic meters of gaseous nitrogen per hour, a cryogenic storage of liquid oxygen with a volume of 1500 cubic meters, a gasification station, as well as facilities for providing the necessary energy resources. The equipment of the complex will meet the needs of the metallurgical plant in oxygen and nitrogen, which are necessary for the production of iron and steel. This is a really large and unique project for the company. ”
At the same time, a powerful oxygen complex, thanks to its characteristics and the technology involved, will allow the enterprise to reduce energy costs.
As noted by Andrey Bochkov, Project Manager of Metinvest Engineering LLC, thanks to the use of advanced technologies, the automated oxygen complex will reduce the specific energy consumption by up to 20% compared to the existing oxygen units. After the start-up of the new air separation unit, the old equipment will be decommissioned.
As a reminder, in 2019 Metinvest Group signed a contract for the construction of an air separation unit with Air Liquide, the world leader in the production and supply of gases, technologies and services for industry. The project attracted funding from the state export credit agency of France (Bpifrance Assurance Export).
